A special program was organized at the Meteorological Centre, Ranchi on the 150th year of the establishment of the India Meteorological Department on Monday. Airport Director, R.R. Maurya as special guest; Regional Director, BCAS. (Ministry of Civil Aviation) Ashok Lakra; Professor, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Dr. Ramesh Kumar, were present. Senior Scientist A.E. Kujur welcomed the guests by presenting them with a bunch of flowers. Congratulating everyone on this auspicious occasion, he encouraged all the visitors and made his statement on the multidimensional importance of the forecast and warning issued by the department.
After that the program started with the lighting of the lamp. Through a PowerPoint presentation by Satish Chandra Mandal, Meteorologist-B, the glorious history of 150 years of India Meteorological Department was shown and detailed information was given about the weather services provided by the Meteorological Center, Ranchi. Special guest R.R. Maurya, Airport Director, Ranchi highlighted the important role of Meteorological Department in aviation service and shared his experiences.
In the end, Upendra Srivastava gave a vote of thanks while enhancing the knowledge about the new services to be started in the future of Indian Meteorological Department.
Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar was present as the chief guest in the main program organized in Delhi. On this occasion, Kiren Rijiju, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) graced the occasion as the guest of honour.
On the 150th year of the establishment of India Meteorological Department, the following new services were inaugurated:-
• Souvenir on the evolution of IMD and its services since 1875
• Indigenously developed Decision Support System
• Panchayat Weather Service for Farmers: https://mausam.imd.gov.in/greenalerts
• IMD's mobile app and Mausamgram: https://mausamgram.imd.gov.in/
• National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS)
